The Strange Case of the Last Minute Interview UI UX Portfolio
T'was a not so warm day of May somewhere in a tiny mountains village in the Southern Alps of France. Weary of months of isolation and confinement, yours truly took advantage of the strict lockdown easing off to take her cabin fever up to an actual cabin, but with no fever...actually it wasn't even a cabin, we'll call this a poetic license for the benefit of this tale -
what's your point? I hear you ask with semi exasperation. I shall continue my dear readers. I was presented with the opportunity of a UX UI Designer position (as a contractor) at a well known company in Sophia Antipolis where the sun is blue and the - alright, alright.
Now, I am not a professional Graphic Designer but I do happen to love designing interfaces, I believe my liking for Front End developement is just an extension of that creative process. Nonetheless there was this opportunity and i'd have been loathed to pass it by.
And it all began. The manager in charge of the position probably sold my candidature really well (as one does...) and then asked me to present my work in a portfolio. Now, i have ADHD, I'm all over the place and havent necessarily an actual UI Portfolio - my bad. Nonetheless I am not afraid of challenges and this one was pretty straighforward. You have 2 days to present a full portfolio to the client. GO.
Rushing to open Figma and pray to the Gods of Creativity I embarked on my journey.
Several galons of coffee, sleepless nights and spotify playlists later, I finally was able to finish designing a brand new app catered to Astronomy and Astrophysics enthusiasts (one day a nerd, always a nerd) named CAELIS.
I'd love to conclude that story by saying I got the job. Unfortunately I was told that I was unfortunately too "junior" . The great excuse companies love to hide behind. Nevermind. I was frustrated because all that rush and work amounting to nothing since they had already decided that I was not SeNiOr enough before looking up my work. But you know what? I actually realized I was able to work fast and well and produce in 2 days what would have taken a team weeks.
I'd love to conclude that story by saying I got the job. Unfortunately I was told that I was unfortunately too "junior" . The great excuse companies love to hide behind. Nevermind. I was frustrated because all that rush and work amounting to nothing since they had already decided that I was not SeNiOr enough before looking up my work. But you know what? I actually realized I was able to work fast and well and produce in 2 days what would have taken a team weeks.
